Did you know...? Lyman sizer problem

[frykasj]

Did you know that wax expands when you heat it? Apparently I temporarily forgot about it when I plugged in my lube heater on my Lyman sizer with the piston down on the lube.

What I'm getting at in my roundabout way, is that I've cracked the cast-iron body of the sizer around the lube well. Any way I can get this fixed, or replaced? (obviously not under warranty, I don't think they cover temporary stupid)

[geargnasher]

Wow, never heard of that one. Usually the sizer will puke wax ribbons from the bottom of the die body/housing interface, out the underside through the pressure screw hole, or around the threads of the piston where the screw goes through it long before the cast iron cracks. I'd say take it apart, melt all the lube out of it, inspect/measure the bore to determine how out-of-round it is, see if you can clean and fill the crack with GOOD epoxy and use a vice or clamp to squeeze it back together, then grind down the paint around the crack and put a coat of epoxy on the outside. If you have some cast iron welding "rods", a BBQ grille, and a Cobra oxy-acetylene torch kit you might be able to just weld it back up.

Gear

[R.M.]

Braze it.

[Mal Paso]

It shouldn't crack from wax pressure. If it cracked because the iron wasn't dense enough it will just collapse if you try to weld. I'd remove the paint next to the crack, grind a small bevel on the outside edge of the crack and use Silver Solder. It may be a bad casting and more trouble than it's worth too.

WOW They have a replacement body for $120.

[Wally]

Did you know that wax expands when you heat it? Apparently I temporarily forgot about it when I plugged in my lube heater on my Lyman sizer with the piston down on the lube.

What I'm getting at in my roundabout way, is that I've cracked the cast-iron body of the sizer around the lube well. Any way I can get this fixed, or replaced? (obviously not under warranty, I don't think they cover temporary stupid)

Contact Lyman--you never know--they might be gracious & replace it for you...Good Luck!

[mooman76]

I always back the pressure off a few cranks when done. I didn't do that the first time and got the wax ribbons going out all over the second time I plugged it in to use and walked away.

[Wally]

I always back the pressure off a few cranks when done. I didn't do that the first time and got the wax ribbons going out all over the second time I plugged it in to use and walked away.

Same here---a good tip!

[TGM]

frykasj, is yours a 450 or a 4500? I have an extra 450 body if that is what you can use. Let me know and we can work out the details.

TGM

[largom]

Wax should not have caused the casting to crack. I would send it back to Lyman before I did anything to it.

Larry

[fryboy]

wow ...never heard of that before ...one thing to keep in mind whether you weld , braze , or attempt to silver solder ( if you decide to try and fix it that is ) is that a small hole drilled at the end of the crack ( and just a wee bit beyond ) helps stop it from further cracking

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

( if you decide to try and fix it that is ) is that a small hole drilled at the end of the crack ( and just a wee bit beyond ) helps stop it from further cracking

Great tip fryboy.

But before I'd do anything, I would e-mail Lyman first,
send them quality photos and a good explanation as you did here.
see how they respond ?
of course if this isn't a 4500, they probably won't do much for you,
but you never know til you ask ?
Jon

[frykasj]

frykasj, is yours a 450 or a 4500? I have an extra 450 body if that is what you can use. Let me know and we can work out the details.

TGM

It's a 4500. I bought it maybe 4 months ago, having never used a sizer more complicated than the Lee.

I think I'm going to call Lyman and ask them what I should do. If it ends up costing more than $100 to fix it, well, let's just say I may owe a bottle to one of my welder friends....

Here's a grainy pic... I circled it in sharpie where it's cracked...

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6065/6142854068_0904c4e253_z.jpg

[Ben]

I do believe Lyman SHOULD make this right to you ?

If they don't fix it. tell all of us about it ! !

I'd like to know one way or the other. The warm lube should not have done that.
It will seep out around the die housing prior to creating enough pressure to damage
the cast housing. That is definitely a flawed part.

[462]

For sure a defective casting.

[Ed in North Texas]

For sure a defective casting.

Amen. For sure you need to contact Lyman about this. There was an obvious casting defect (not unheard of with casting) on this 4500.

If it isn't covered by a warranty (it sure should be), and they act as if they don't know you, you might just mention that the result of their action (or inaction) will be reported to thousands of casters on this website. OTOH, if they treat you right, tell them the same thing. Either way, tell us how it turns out with Lyman.

Brazing, or silver soldering, is the easiest strong fix if you have to go that way. If you know a professional welder, better yet. Welding cast iron (if that is what it is, and not cast steel) can be a PITA.

[geargnasher]

For sure a defective casting.

Agreed. Call Lyman and stick it in their ear.

Gear

[Bret4207]

Yeah, that's a casting flaw of some sort.

[fishnbob]

Yeah, that's a casting flaw of some sort.

Gotta be a casting flaw. The pressure on the lube would force it out the bottom of the die onto the boolit stop.

[frykasj]

Well guys, I'm sorry about the long time between posts. I got wrapped up in my job and haven't had much time to get out and shoot, let alone cast boolits!

Anyway, I just sent off an E-mail to Lyman. We'll see how they respond.


Good evening,

I recently purchased a 4200 bullet sizer/lubricator, with a heater. I set it up and was sizing bullets very quickly with a minimum of trouble. It's a very good piece of kit.

Unfortunately for me, I used the sizer with a soft lubricant until it ran out. After cleaning out the remains of the old lube, I inserted a new stick of orange magic lube. After setting up the sizer, I plugged in the heater without realizing that I had left the lube piston compressing the lube stick (my mistake!). The pressure resulting from this caused the body of the cast-iron lube well to crack. I have pictures I could send if it would help.

My question is, is this covered under warranty?

Thanks,
- Joe

[JIMinPHX]

I sort of seem to remember something in the instructions that come with those things that tells you to back off the pressure screw 6 cranks when you stop running it. I'll bet they tell you to do that so that you don't end up over-pressurizing the thing when you heat it up. That being the case, they would have a leg to stand on if they tell you that it's your fault for not following directions.

Most companies that make reloading gear are pretty straight up though. They might come through for you anyway.

Like the others said, please let us know how it shakes out for you.

[whitewolf68]

It's a 4500. I bought it maybe 4 months ago, having never used a sizer more complicated than the Lee.

I think I'm going to call Lyman and ask them what I should do. If it ends up costing more than $100 to fix it, well, let's just say I may owe a bottle to one of my welder friends....



I too have one that the pressure screw broke free from the casting. I've contacted Lyman and they asked me to send it in to them. Hopefully it will be covered.

[MikeS]

I think that your email to them was written with the wrong tone. You shouldn't have said anything about making a mistake, right there it gives them an out. You should have stressed that the part was defective, as you left it for a short period of time with the pressure on, and the lube certainly should have squeezed out around the die, or pressure screw, or something like that, rather than breaking a cast iron body. The only way it could do that is if it was defective, and as such you want them to repair or replace your sizer. Of course this can be written so that while you're asking them to fix or replace your sizer, you do it in a nice way, so you don't sound like a jerk, which if you did, that would also give them an out. (sounding like a jerk that is).

I too would like to know what they have to say.

[frykasj]

Well, it looks like I'm getting a new sizer body! Customer service is going to send me a new one.


Dear Joe;
Can you email me a picture of the bottom of the lubrisizer (the head of the pressure screw area) and the side where it split?
Once received, we will take care of this for you.
Thank you,




Sorry about the late reply. I have the pictures of the Lubrisizer for you.

It's a bit hard to see the cracks in the side of it, as I can't find a lighting situation that makes them show up. I did however circle them in Sharpie.

Anyway, thank you in advance!

- Joe Frykas


Joe;

Thank you for the pictures. I have forward these on to our Engineering Department for evaluation.

I will be mailing you a replacement body for the lube sizer.

Thank you,

I have to say, Lyman's customer service is pretty darned awesome! I'll definitely be buying more of their products in the future.

[dromia]

That is as it should be.

Lyman have had a mixed press for their customer service over the years, if that service is the norm then it will go a long way to saving their reputation.

All they need to do now is ensure their QC is up to snuff.

[kappy]

I don't know how Lyman's customer service is... all I know is that I bought my first box of casting equipment from them, and it works pretty damned well.

[462]

Good news.